A first responder attends to a person outside a Southern California social services center in San Bernardino, where authorities said multiple people were shot Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. (KNBC via AP)

Even before the situation was secured, with police calling the scene “active,” live TV news coverage of the San Bernardino shooting veered dangerously into wild speculation and guesswork.

Wide-ranging speculation on CNN was not useful: “Could be terrorism”, “these guys could be on their way to another attack,” anchors said.

On an ABC News special report, a correspondent launched into similar speculation: “Obviously I don’t know but…” he told anchor George Stephanopolos.

“How long could this go?” CNN’s Brooke Baldwin asked a woman on lock down at the Inland Regional Center. “I have no idea,” the woman said.

“I would suspect we’re going to find that black SUV somewhere,” CNN’s law enforcement analyst Harry Houck guessed, suggesting the perpetrators switched to another car and continued their escape. (Maybe he knows this from experience in New York police work, maybe from watching movies?).

“This is really, truly still happening,” Baldwin said, as they continued to speculate about why the particular site was chosen.

Nerves were raw, information was spotty, but the leap into predictions and speculation was not helpful. Some of the best, fastest and least speculative information flowed from the BBC.

A gunman opened fire during a live on-air interview in Moneta, Va on WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and WDBJ videographer Adam Ward. (Courtesy of WDBJ-TV7 via AP)

This is a different sort of media madness. It’s a misuse of a media tool, turning us against ourselves.

A new line in offensive communication was crossed today when a horrific event happening on live TV was then promoted on social media by the perpetrator. Using Twitter as a new sort of megaphone, the suspected killer of a TV news crew in Virginia sought to grab wider instant infamy via the internet.

A television reporter and cameraman were shot to death on live television Wednesday in Virginia by a gunman described as a disgruntled station employee. A second video of the shooting, recorded by the suspected killer, was posted on social media even as police tried to locate the suspect.

Twitter acted swiftly to shut down the account, and the precedent no doubt will cause social media companies to put in place rules to prevent future abuses of the internet. But not before a violation of social norms from which there’s no turning back.

This is a new form of hostage-taking, in which the attention of a society is hijacked and held virtual hostage — with indelible images that can’t be unseen.

Viewers may be sadly accustomed to carnage transmitted, live, from war zones and assassinations and street protests. We know how to avoid those images. But we are unfamiliar with the sensation of accidentally contributing to the spread of horrific images via social media accounts.

Taking a break from the internet might help for the moment, but the speed of information and graphic imagery is only moving faster and faster. As technology races ahead, we need to protect ourselves from ourselves.

Aurora Police respond to the Century 16 movie theater early Friday morning, July 20, 2012. Initial media coverage of the end tended to be professional and low-key -- with some exceptions.

Measured tones and careful framing of visuals marked the media reporting of the Aurora shooting Friday. After overnight images of bloodied victims were broadcast and uploaded to social media, the morning gave way to exterior shots of the crime scene, hospitals and the police command center.

For the most part, Denver anchors left it to eyewitnesses to express the emotionally charged despair, anger and bewilderment many felt. Much information regarding the gunman surfaced first on Twitter and only later on TV. Kyle Clark of 9News was among the best at explaining the ground rules of TV coverage to viewers. “This is not a foot race,” he said. The station would only broadcast details like named of those injured when they were adequately confirmed to avoid having to “walk it back.”

One over-reach: ABC News’ Brian Ross suggested the shooter, Jim Holmes, may be affiliated with the Colorado Tea Party, based on a mention on that group’s website of an Aurora man by the same name. “Now we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes,” Ross said, “but it is a Jim Holmes of Aurora, CO.”

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.